The World Championships silver medal is a end result of years of intense laborious work, stated India’s Kidambi Srikanth after falling in need of the highest prize right here on Sunday.
Even earlier than his 15-21 20-22 loss to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew within the males’s singles remaining, the 28-year-old’s silver medal made him the first-ever Indian man to realize the feat on the marquee event.
“In few tournaments, I played really well and in few tournaments I couldn’t play well this year, but again, to reach the final of a world championship is something, that I really worked hard for, and I am really happy to be here today,” Srikanth stated.
“I will try to continue to work hard, it is a process and there are many other tournaments next year, like the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, world championship, so it is a very big year, next year. So I will try to stay positive.”
Unseeded Loh Kean Yew 🇸🇬 rivals Kidambi Srikanth 🇮🇳 within the final match of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021.#BWFWorldChampionships #Huelva2021 pic.twitter.com/Box999hbgB
— BWF (@bwfmedia) December 19, 2021
Srikanth, at the moment ranked 14th on this planet, had his moments however he squandered leads of 9-3 and 18-16 within the two video games to see the coveted title slip out of his grasp.
“It has been a great week. Even today I had my chances in both the games. I had a healthy lead in first game and, even in second game, I had 18-16 cushion. I was not able to finish the match today. Loh played really well,” he stated.
“Lot of things to learn from this, so definitely I will work on this and try and get better for next tournaments.”
Moment to savour! ❤️@srikidambi turned 1st 🇮🇳 Male shuttler to win 🥈at #WorldChampionships whereas @lakshya_sen turned third 🇮🇳 Male shuttler to seize 🥉medal. This took India’s medal tally at #BWFWorldChampionhips to 1️⃣2️⃣ medals 🔥👏#IndiaontheRise#Badminton📸 Badminton Photo pic.twitter.com/NdP98aY8Hi
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) December 19, 2021
Talking about his mindset forward of the ultimate, Srikanth stated: “Going into this match, I actually wished to be optimistic and never make errors. But typically it occurs; one has to win, one has to lose.
“I tried to stay in the match, it kind of worked in second game but it is important to finish off the match, but yeah, it is something I will need to work on.”
Srikanth had defeated Loh the one time he met him three years in the past, on the 2018 Commonwealth Games blended crew occasion.
“Last time I played him was four (three) years back, which is a pretty long time. He has improved his game, he has matured as a player, his physical strength has improved and he is playing exceptionally well,” he stated.
Srikanth had confronted a whole lot of difficulties in procuring his visa to get into Spain and the Indian stated he wasn’t positive if he would have the ability to take part within the occasion.
“I didn’t know if I’d have the ability to come right here till Thursday. I bought to know on Thursday night, I believe round 6 that I bought my visa, so I wasn’t positive if I will come right here.
“So yeah, I am just happy to come here and play another tournament. It has been a great week for me. I was able to play well throughout the week. I would have loved to win today.”
Malaysia-born Loh was in disbelief after changing into the primary participant from his nation to win a world championship title.
“I cannot believe it. I mean, at the start of the year I didn’t think it will happen. Now I can tell you I am finally happy, I don’t have to focus on the match tomorrow,” stated the world quantity 22.
Sharing his recreation plan for the ultimate, Loh stated: “He (Srikanth) is such a very good attacking participant, I knew it isn’t going to be simple to defend his photographs. So I wanted to be ready for his defence and never let him assault a lot.
“It didn’t work well at the start and I had to pick up the pace and take initiative at the front.”
“It wasn’t easy to balance between being patient and aggressive. I wanted to win, but it was not easy to stay calm, but I managed to do it well in the end and it worked out well.”
“I know I am not an underdog anymore. I need to think of how to manage things, I can only do it by playing competitions, winning or losing I can only learn from it. So I hope I can withstand the pressure.”
